Thailand and Vietnam Tours and Trips

This tour combines sightseeing and a variety of food experiences ranging from street food, meals with local families, cooking classes and farm visits. It also offers a glimpse into the lives of the locals. This tour is highly recommended! Our guide leader Thin was very knowledgeable, supportive and helpful. For our free time he provided many suggestions as well as offered a list of optional activities that you could sign up for if interested which he would coordinate for the group. This was my first tour with Explore. I had a great experience and will look to Explore when planning my next vacation.

A full on 2week trip taking in Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hoi An, HCM City (Saigon), Pnomh Penh and Siem Riep. Travel is mostly by minibus which was fine mostly. An overnight 16 hr train trip from Hanoi to Da Nang was not great-very uncomfortable bed and noisy. Very little sleep. Second train journey from Da Nang to Saigon has been replaced in the itinerary with a flight which was much better. Accommodation was very good mostly and in a couple of places, excellent. Our tour guide, Quang, was outstanding combining knowledge with humour and great attention to detail. Overall, a brilliant trip which would certainly recommend to others.

Our Guide, Quang, was amazing. He was knowledgeable, kind, with a great sense of humour. He took us to some great restaurants, often arranging for a set menu where we could taste a range of local foods, which were delicious. We were lucky with the weather, only being out in the rain once, but Hoi An was badly flooded 2 weeks before we got there, and inundated again a few days after we left. What resilient people! They just clean up and carry on. Hoi An was beautiful, and I enjoyed a lantern making class with my travel buddy. The overnight train ride was an experience. I didn't get much sleep, and the bunks are narrow and hard. Learning about the difficult history of both countries is sobering, but I felt it important to delve into this, to better appreciate how far both countries have developed. Go to visit the Hero Rats at Apopo in Siem Reap if you have time! The trip notes are pretty accurate, so read them carefully to ensure the trip is to your taste.

Overall, the explore elements of the trip were great, the Elephant walking was wonderful and interesting (could write more but I don't want to give any spoilers) and the kayaking through the mangroves were highlights. Some of the optional trips were less good - mainly the bio luminescent trip. I wouldn't recommend this trip to people as it isn't what was advertised in the local trip notes. It was commercialised travel on a speed boat with only 30 minutes of snorkelling at one destination (we were told several sights of snorkelling) and the swim with the bio luminesence was good but that was only for 10 minutes. Additionally the organisation of the trip (after the explore guide had booked) was horrendous. We were on and off buses/taxis and no clue where we were heading. We did eventually get the right boat, but I wouldn't recommend this optional extra to others. We were lucky with the time of year we went and were able to experience a couple of night markets which are well worth visiting for the local food. Our guide Por, was kind and caring and ensured we got to the right pier at the right time. Some of the speed boat people are a little hap hazard with your luggage, so you will need a strong piece of luggage. Overall though, a great trip to see many islands, see the sun, sea and sand (though we did have a lot of thunder and rain through out the trip too). There is a good mix of activities and relax time though I think my favourite island was Koh Hai - the first island.

10-10 would do it again, no questions asked. For the price you cannot beat this tour. The hotels we stayed at were some of the best Contiki resorts I’ve ever had. And the FTAs were a blast and our guid was amazing. The party’s on the trip are a blast and occur nightly, but as always optional. Definitely get the bucket!!!

A great all rounded trip. Our guide was v accommodating and happy to please. She gave us plenty of stops for snacks and coffee. She explained not all meals come at once in a group, nor starters. Food was good and cheap and well catered for vegetarians etc. Accommodation was good overall. Would have liked one less night in the jungle and an extra night at the Dolphin Bay resort to use the facilities. Great to have water provided at every hotel and a kettle. Lots of optional activities on this trip which add to the price but all v good. Expect some trips to be v busy in the touristy areas. Well recommended.